Kinoeye is only weeks away from its third birthday. The column started late in September 1998, although it did not aquire the name "Kinoeye" until a month or so later. At first it was published by the Czech internet journal The Electronic New Presence (ENP) and then a year later it moved to the more international environment of Central Europe Review (CER). Why, then, is it time to change again? And is this a parting of ways between Kinoeye and Central Europe Review?

The original aim of Kinoeye was that it should exist within a wider journal so that it could place European film within a broader context, reaching political scientistists, economists, historians and practioners of other disciplines and showing that culture, and specifically film, is an integral part of the study of a country or region. As such, the appearance of the Kinoeye column within a magazine with a regional focus was essential.

But that is really only half the story. European cinema deserves to be considered as more than just something of interest to regional specialists: it can be rewarding to anybody who cares about film. Kinoeye also seeks to spread the appeal of the extremities of European film to those with a general background in film.

The new Kinoeye thus reflects not only the increasing number of high-quality contributions being submitted, but also the desire to increase the appeal of European film not only within regional coverage but within film appreciation itself. Kinoeye will continue to appear in a regional context, as Central Europe Review will continue to publish Kinoeye material and link to our pages.

There are other advantages to Kinoeye's independence. The new design, for example, is more sympathetic to the Kinoeye's need to be a visual as well as a verbal medium, and there is now room for larger graphics. More than this, though, Kinoeye is free to follow its own remit. Even within CER, the Kinoeye column stood apart in its coverage, most notably in the concentration placed on Russia in a journal which is otherwise largely uninterested in the country.

Kinoeye intends to use the phrase "the new Europe" to cover countries, attitudes and genres that are on the fringes of European thought and deserve bringing into the mainstream. Thus, as well as central, east and southeast European film, Kinoeye intends to cover genre fringes such as horror (and indeed this issue sees the introduction of a semi-regular horror column edited by Steven Jay Schneider of Harvard University), films that illustrate the social and political problems of the new Europe and films from European countries whose contributions to cinema history have largely been overlooked by the standard texts.

This, obviously, is a remit that opens up new possibilities.

Andrew James Horton, Editor-in-Chief

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